I’d heard about a very special place in Antrim, New Hampshire, a town that lies about 20 miles northwest of Keene. The place is called Loveren’s Mill, named after Josiah Loveren, who in 1864 became the third owner of a combined saw and grist mill originally built in 1798. The mill changed hands several times until it finally closed in 1920. It isn’t the mill site that I went to see however-there is an Atlantic cedar swamp on the property that pollen tests have shown is at least 4000 years old, and most likely much older.
The Atlantic white cedars (Chamaecyparis thyoides) here aren’t cedars at all-they are white cypress-but they are also very rare and appear in just a few pockets along the Atlantic coast. One reason they are so rare is because they grow so slowly, in some cases taking hundreds of years to reach a foot in height.
I don’t know if this old stone foundation was for a mill, house, or barn but it sits close to the north branch of the Contoocook River.
The Contoocook river is notable as the only river in New Hampshire to run north instead of south. This photo was taken near the site of the mill, which stood a little way upriver on its far side.
As you move away from the river deeper into the woods you can feel that this is an ancient place. Every stump, boulder and log is a garden, covered with mosses, liverworts, ferns, lichens and fungi.
Before too long, off the main trial to the right, a 200 foot long boardwalk leads through the spongy peat mosses into a grove of cedars. Atlantic white cedar swamps are rare in New Hampshire and are considered globally rare as well. This swamp is unusual because of its 1,083 foot elevation and by the way the surrounding hills funnel cold air down into it. Because it stays so cool it supports plant life that is usually found only in boreal forests much farther north. I’ve heard that in spring the trails are lined with pink ladies slippers and native pink azaleas. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a great variety of orchids here, along with sundews, pitcher, and other plants that like cool, acidic water.
You don’t want to step off the boardwalk because you would probably sink into the floating mat of mosses up to your knees if you did-the trees in this photo are growing in standing water. They can’t stand much fluctuation in the water level, and their survival here shows that things haven’t changed much over the millennia. Still, I have heard that the boardwalks are sometimes under water in spring from snow melt, so it must fluctuate some.
Fruiting cones show that the cedars which are actually cypress must be happy. The flat, scaly leaves and grayish, peeling bark are common to both cedar and cypress, so it is easy to confuse the two. Though many cypress are deciduous, these Chamaecyparis thyoides are evergreen, which makes identification even more difficult.
Eastern larch (Larix laricina) is another tree that prefers wet, swampy ground and they do quite well here in the swamp. They like to be cool and can stand temperatures down to -85 degrees F. Other trees found here include balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and red spruce (Picea rubens) and like the cypress, these trees are usually found much farther north in boreal forests.
There were so many different mosses growing here that I might have to do a post on just mosses. This beautiful thing is one of the fern mosses called delicate fern moss (Thuidium delicatulum). It is very lacy and fragile looking and I don’t see it too often. This moss forms large mats and will grow in sun or shade as long as the soil is moist. It is available commercially for moss gardens.
I saw many lichens in the area, but I didn’t expect to see this dog lichen (Peltigera) growing on a moss covered stump. I should have gotten a few photos of its underside-that would have made species identification easier. I’ve never seen it before so I’ll have to re-visit it to be sure about its identity. It grows right beside the trail so it shouldn’t be too hard to find again.
This is one of the fruiting bodies (apothecia) of the dog lichen in the previous photo. I’ve heard three different stories of why this is called “dog” lichen. One says that the lichen itself is shaped like a dog. Another says spiky projections on the lichens look like dog teeth, and the third says that the apothecia curl into a shape that resembles a dog’s ear, which you can see happening in this photo.
These greenish white growths were the size of toothpicks. I found them growing on a debarked log and as it turned out that is an important identifying characteristic. At least, I’ve identified them as much as I’m able to. Depending on whom you ask these growths are either fungi or lichens. One web site says they are lichenized fungi, so I’ve decide to go with that. Their name is Multiclavula mucida, and the mucid part of the scientific name means slimy. That’s also important, because these lichenized fungi always grow in association with green algae and the algae is what makes the log in the photo look so slimy. I’ve never seen these before.
Something else I’ve never seen is the evergreen creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula). With no flowers it was hard to identify, but I’m fairly certain that the small trailing plant with alternate leaves in the above photo is it. This plant is classified as a prostrate shrub in the same family as American wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), which is commonly called teaberry or checkerberry. It has greenish white flowers in spring which are followed by round white berries that are twice the size of the leaves. The berries are said to taste like wintergreen and the crushed leaves smell like wintergreen. This plant is also called Moxie Plum because it is thought to have been an ingredient in the original Moxie soft drink, along with gentian root. Native Americans had many uses for this plant.
These small white leptonia (Alboleptonia sericella) mushrooms were very small and hard to photograph. The largest one is about the same diameter as a pea. I can’t think of anything to compare the smallest one to, but it was tiny. These mushrooms have pink spores and some mushrooms in this family are a beautiful midnight blue.
There were many places where the river widened into pools that would be nice to sit beside for a while, but I didn’t have the time this day. That doesn’t bother me because I know I’ll be coming back in the spring. On just a short 3 mile hike I saw 6 or 7 plants that I’ve never seen before, and that amazes me enough to make re-visiting this place a top priority for next season. I get excited just thinking about what plants I might see from spring through summer in this fascinating place.
As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged on the shingly beach of a mountain stream, the great door that does not look like a door opens. ~ Stephen Graham
Thanks for coming by.
[…] a good example of an inland cedar swamp (others in NH are Cooper Cedar Woods in New Durham and Loverens Mill Preserve in Antrim; I haven’t been to either). These inland swamps, located more than 30 miles from […]
That place is a great discovery! I’d love to explore there. I know it will lure you back many times!
It will, because it’s so unusual. I wish I’d known about it years ago.
The Nature Conservancy does good work!
Yes, but they could use a few more blazes on the trees.
All of that wonderful stuff that’s just out there waiting for us…through that open door, yes, and it changes faces with the time of year, too. It will be interesting to see what you bring back to us after your spring wanderings out here, Allen.
I can’t wait to see it in the spring.
A really unique and magical place. Fascinating lichens, fungi, and lichenized fungi – or fungified lichens? And why is it that trees tend to impersonate cedars, our eastern red cedar is really a juniper.
Your guess is as good as mine on the lichenized fungi, since lichens are fungi and algae growing together. This thing doesn’t look like any lichen I’ve ever seen though, so it’s bugging me.
I think the trees know exactly what they’re doing-it’s the people who classify them who botch the job every now and then. To be fair though, the differences are often so slight that they are almost imperceptible. Now we have DNA testing on plants, so if you think things were mixed up before, just wait a while!
So nice to see that this rare place has been preserved by the Nature Conservancy. Another interesting walk with the New Hampshire Gardener!
Thanks Sue. I’m glad it has been protected too, it’s a special place.
It’s wonderful to visit new places through your blog. I’m not sure how you have time to do the research it takes to put a post like this together. Your posts are always interesting and I trust your identifications totally.
I have been studying up on lichens, liverworts, etc., but I am still lost as far as identifications.
I found a small trailing plant, it looked something like the one in your post but it turned out to be a speedwell. It was a sort of limp plant, not at all tough, and the leaves were opposite not alternate like yours.
Thanks again for an interesting post.
Thanks Chris. It does take time but finding new plants is always fun and rewarding, as I’m sure you know. Have you tried looking at spleenworts? Your mystery plant sounds like it might be one of those. That’s what I thought the creeping snowberry was at first, but spleenworts don’t have alternate leaves.
You’re right, Allen, finding new plants is fun and rewarding, and it might have been a spleenwort, I haven’t gotten into spleenworts very much but I have seen some. So many plants, so little time! Thanks, again.
Lichenized fungi? Well I never.
Anything to make life “easier.”
The delicate fern moss is beautiful. I hope the board walk isn’t under water when you go back in spring because I’d like to see some of the flowers that grow there.
I’m hoping the same thing! If they are I’ll just wait a bit and then go back.
Great post (and photos) as always. Thank you. Regarding the Atlantic white cedars, another excellent location is the Bradford Bog, where the sphagnum moss is thick enough and sturdy enough for you to get right next to the trees. Regarding the foundation stones – from what I’ve seen further north in the state, I’d put in a guess that it’s for the mill. I’ve rarely seen such big stones used in other ways. I suppose they wanted the size and heft to compensate for the added torque and pressures that a mill would put on the foundation. Thanks for the time and care you put into your posts.
You’re welcome Steve, and thank you. As you see I couldn’t wait until spring to visit the swamp! I’ve never heard of the Bradford bog but being able to walk on the sphagnum mat sounds really interesting. That would be a great way to get closse to orchids and other bog dwellers. I’ll have to Google it and see what I come up with.
Your theory about stone size in foundations makes a lot of sense. Truth is I’ve never thought much about it but I’m sure they would have wanted a substantial foundation on a mill. The foundation stones of the mill at Bailey Brook Falls that I did a post on a while ago were also quite big, now that I think about it. I’ll pay closer attention in the future. I’m usually too busy wondering about the lichens on the stones to pay attention the stones themselves!
It’s lovely to know such lovely places exist and can be visited. I like the lichenised fungi perhaps both alga and fungi can live apart or together. I never knew that trees could grow in swamps in cold climates.
Yes, a lot of trees won’t grow anywhere but a cold, wet place. Alga and fungi live together in the form of lichens but I’m not sure if the things in the post are lichens or fungi, or both. I’ve got a lot of reading to do!
This is all so fascinating!! It would be impossible to stay away from there. I can’t wait until you take us there again.
It’s going to happen when the snow melts. I wouldn’t want to be in those woods in deep snow, even with snow shoes.
Excellent! I’d love to spend a day there, so many interesting plants and the geology to create the right conditions for the plats to grow. You need to take more road trips like this one! 😉
I’d bet that you would love spending some time there. I was thinking of you as I walked the trail in fact because this swamp is supposed to be a bird magnet. It attracts all kinds of birds including the Louisiana waterthrush, of all things. There are also some unusual butterfly species there. I’m trying to branch out a bit and explore new places but as you are noting in your blog-it takes time.
It does take time, and I keep getting “stuck” returning to places over and over because they are so good, but branching out is also good, and the results are worth it as your post shows.
By the time next spring rolls around, I hope to spend less time on just birds, and get back to more varied subjects again. But, I don’t have your knowledge of plant life, or the resources that you do, so my posts will be mostly photos with little info.
There are people out there who don’t care for the “factoids” that I add to each photo, so there’s always something for everyone if they just shop around. After you get shots of the same plant 2 or 3 times you’ll start to learn their names. My grandmother had me in the woods eating teaberries when I was about 5, so I’ve been learning about plants for a while now.
Well, you can never please every one, but I love to learn, which is why I follow your blog. It’s funny, but some of the people who used to follow my blog and complain if I didn’t identify a bird that I photographed stopped following my blog shortly after I started My Life List project. I think that they complained as a way of showing their “superior” knowledge, but once I had passed them as far as species, they cut and ran.
I’ve lost readers too and have no idea why. it’s hard to guess why people do what they do. I get complaints about things and if I agree with the person doing the complaining I fix it, if not I don’t. One complaint was that I didn’t capitalize the common names of plants. I don’t capitalize them on purpose because I want people to pay more attention to the scientific names, so I didn’t “fix” that one. As you said, you can’t please everybody.
Namaste NHGS,
Thank you so much for all your hard work. It must be very time consuming to find the botanic names. It’s all beautiful, natural and eye-opening. Enjoy this post thoroughly and we’ll can come back and visit these places anytime we wish. Thank you for bringing your part of the world to us.
Bright Reiki blessings,
Agnes
Thank you Agnes. Yes, identifying new (to me) plants is time consuming but it’s also rewarding. Being able to share what I find through blogging makes it even more so, and I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
I’ll have to check that out! Amazing to think it can be so old. We just took a walk around Falls Pond, next to Rocky Gorge in Albany, NH. I thought of you while we walked around the pond, intrigued by all the plant life.
I’ve never heard of Rocky Gorge but it sounds like another interesting place that I need to visit. I think you would find a trip to Loverens Mill worthwhile, especially in May when all the azaleas and lady’s slippers are blooming. I’ll bet the black flies are really something though!
It’s always enjoyable to visit new places with you. Your excitement for all of the growing things really comes through in your photos and explanations. Things get complicated for most of us when you talk about lichenized fungi. Yikes!
I’m glad you liked the tour Mike. I really am excited about this place and I guess it’s hard to hide it. The lichenized fungi really threw me a curve ball and it took several hours to finally identify it. It’s pretty cool though and very unusual, so it was worth it.
You constantly amaze me Allan; the breadth of your knowledge is breathtaking. A great tour of what looks like a truly fascinating place.
Thanks Jim, but most of my knowledge comes from all of the plant books that I have. Without them I’d be as lost as anyone else when it came to plant IDs. It really is a fascinating place and I can’t wait to get back there in the spring.
When I did my post about Antrim earlier this year, I mentioned the swamp as a place I wanted to get back to in better weather. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that this year, but like you, I plan on making it a priority in the spring. I think it is wonderful that you saw so many plants you’d never seen before! Great ‘slow’ picture of the river! Fantastic post!
Thanks Laura. It’s a fantastic place for anyone who likes plant hunting and I plan on spending quite a lot of time there next year, so maybe we’ll finally bump into each other.
We should make a point of it, I’ll bet Martha would love to join us!
That would be fine. I’m shooting for sometime in March, as soon as the snow melts.